Pelle’s Thoughts

       Happy Holidays!

“Happy Holidays” is something we say very often during the time around Christmas. It has become a standard greeting during the month of December. A lot of people say it as a wish for others to have exactly that: happy holidays.

When I think about holidays, I think about days off, when I don’t have to work, when schools and most offices are closed, and when no mail is being delivered. Sometimes I even think about vacation. A day off from my duties as teddy bear, and being released from my responsibilities as counselor, pillow, and copilot, is definitely something that makes me happy.

But not every time we get a few days off we say: Happy Holidays! “Happy Holidays” is something that only occurs around Christmas. So I figured it must have something to do with Christmas. And I think I get it: Christmas is a holiday, I get presents for Christmas, and the presents make me happy. Christmas = happy holiday.

But during this season there is actually more going on than just Christmas. There are other winter holidays like Hanukkah (Jewish) or Kwanzaa (celebration of African heritage between Dec. 26^th and Jan. 1^st) or Christmas in the Orthodox church on January 6^th. This is why we say Happy Holidays (more than one day). Because we want to wish everybody a happy holiday not only Christians who celebrate on December 24^th and 25th.

And I keep wondering: if “Happy Holidays” has to do with Christmas, then it must have to do with Mary and Joseph as well. But Mary and Joseph didn’t get a day off. And they didn’t seem to be very happy, while they where traveling the long way to Bethlehem with Mary being VERY pregnant. They actually had a hard time finding and inn where Mary was safe enough to give birth to Jesus.

On the other hand wasn’t Jesus a gift from God? Despite all the obstacles Mary and Joseph must have been really happy about this gift from God. The day Jesus was born was a special day. Not just for Mary and Joseph but for all of us. On that day more than 2000 years ago our savior was born and God’s love for us became visible, became real in Jesus Christ. Yes, Christmas is a special day. Not only that very first Christmas, but every Christmas, when we celebrate Jesus’ birthday. Christmas is a HOLY DAY. And this is exactly what the word holiday means, where it comes from. The origin of the word holiday is the Middle English word holidai which means holy day.

A holy day - THIS holy day - is meant to make you happy. But it makes you happy in a different way than you might expect. It’s not the excited happiness that kicks in after having received lot of Christmas presents. It is not the satisfied happiness you feel after having had a turkey dinner on Christmas day together with your family. The happiness of this holy day is something else. It is the happiness of someone who has realized how much he or she is loved. It is the happiness of someone who has found inner peace. It is the happiness of someone who sees the joy in being a child of God.

So, as a PB  (pastor’s bear) my wish for you is: May you realize how much you are loved. May you find inner peace. And may you see the joy in being a child of God.

May you have TRULY HAPPY HOLY DAYS!

Yours Pelle

This entry was posted on 13. November 2008 at 18:23 and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.